No Rest til Reading

In a moment of madness, I entered the Reading half marathon (6 March). Since running the London marathon in April last year, I've been a bit of a sporadic runner and have only done a few 5k and 10k races. I decided I needed some sort of incentive to get me back running again. I managed a slow 10 mile run over the Chrsitmas break, so it shouldn't be too difficult getting back up to 13 miles. It's good to have something to aim for, and a kick up the bum to get running with the University running club more often. So, I now need to plan my weekends around my long run and must plan my social life accordingly. We've a Burn's night supper and cailidh at college on Friday (ouch!), so need to have a quiet night in on Saturday and first long run on Sunday. Can't wait to get back into it again though - running gives me more energy, more positive thoughts and helps me sleep, not to mention the buns of steel!!

On the academic side, life at university is looking up. After lamenting the lack of Dr Page lectures this term, I am delighted to report that we have 2 new lecturers who more than make up for Dr Page's absence! The Renaissance is where it's all happening... I think I'm on course for a good attendance record this term!

Grantchester Meadows

I woke up this morning craving cake (nothing to do with all the red wine last night, I'm sure!), and forced Ulrich and Joseph to accompany me on a walk through Grantchester meadows to the Orchard Tea Rooms. It's a lovely walk through the meadows, typical Cambridgeshire countryside, and the tea rooms are set in an apple and pear orchard, where you can sit under the trees in deckchairs all year round enjoying the most fantastic cakes. The place was a great favourite of many of the old Cambridge writers - Virgina Woolf once sat on the style there reciting all she knew of Chaucer to the neighbouring cows (it apparently took 20 minutes, which doesn't sound impressive until you try learning to recite Chaucer from memory - ouch!).

Cambridge is great at this time of year. The calm before the storm of the tourist season. We saw people punting on the river and also a group of people who get together on Saturdays to re-enact great battles (canons, battle dress and all!). Ulrich and Joe have now gone off to row with the college rowing team and I'm off to buy tickets for Romeo and Juliet at the Cambridge Arts Theatre. How very Cambridge, darlings!

The naughty pixies 

Punting on the River Cam 

Shiny New Friends 

Lent Term Begins

I intended to start this blog during my first term at Cambridge. But Chaucer, Gower and Malory had other plans for me (they bullied me! they confused me and often kept me up VERY late at night, the naughty boys!). The first term passed in a whirlwind of speed-reading, hastily written essays and the odd crazy night out. I hadn't had the chance to do most of the preliminary reading as I received the 3 page reading list (including minor challenges such as The Complete Works of Shakespeare, The Canterbury Tales and The Bible) three weeks before the beginning of Michealmas term, when I was still working in Switzerland. Major achievements this term were my essay on Malory's Morte d'Arthur, which I didn't have time to read - so I based my essay on Monty Python's 'Search for the Holy Grail' and wrote some great stuff about killer rabbits. Less well-received was my essay on Twelfth Night entitled 'Twelfth Night: Is it a Melanchomedy' with inspired paragraphs on restraining orders, hangovers and involuntary life analysis. Turns out my Director of Studies didn't think it was tragifunny at all. So I'll know next time! I survived the first term, albeit in something of a shell-shocked state after the most challenging 8 weeks of my life, and now find it hard to believe how long I put up with being so unhappy in my job.

My home is now a small en-suite room in halls. I'm lucky to be in a new block but after 13 years of living in my own flat in relative peace and quiet the neighbours are taking some getting used to! The noise and general commotion in the corridor continues until the early hours of the morning. But I'm so at home here already, it really doesn't bother me too much. It's amazing how quickly you get used to new surroundings -and noise, and bad food! - when you are happy. And happy I am. I'm doing something I've been dreaming of and planning for at least 5 years and it has turned out to be everything I hoped it would be and more...

I'm starting this blog as a way of recording my life here, writing something other than literature essays and keeping in touch with friends. We can't leave Nic out there blogging all on her own!